Lot 2. A rare celadon-glazed double-gourd vase, Qianlong seal mark and period (1736-1795). Height 20.1 cm, 7⅞ in. Estimate: 80,000 - 120,000 GBP. Lot sold: 352,800 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's.

well potted with a globular lower bulb rising from a short splayed foot to a slender waisted neck and a small bulbous upper bulb tapering to a narrow mouthrim, flanked by a pair of undulating strap handles extending from the upper bulb and terminating with a pair of ruyi heads on the shoulder, divided by two lappet borders radiating from the raised rib around the waisted neck, covered overall save for the unglazed footring with a translucent pale celadon glaze, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue.

Note: Covered overall in a cool and translucent celadon glaze, this elegant vase belongs to an exquisite group of gourd-shaped vases with sweeping bulbs, elegant curved handles and thin chrysanthemum petals gathered at the waist. Vases of this form were first created in the Yongzheng period (r. 1723-1735), but became more popular in the Qianlong reign, when examples were made covered in various monochrome glazes and painted in blue and white. The elegant form was likely created when the talented Tang Ying (1682-1756) was supervisor of the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen. Tang’s first-hand knowledge of the imperial collection and his technical know-how allowed him to direct craftsmen to fine-tune shapes to perfect proportions and develop a range of new striking celadon hues. The wares made during his tenure at Jingdezhen are exquisitely crafted and endowed with a sense of effortless elegance, as this piece.

Qianlong mark and period vases of this form and celadon glaze are unusual, although a very similar vase, but carved with a lotus scroll on the bulbs, from the Umezawa Kinekan, Tokyo, was included in in the exhibition Shinsho toji [Porcelains from the Qing dynasty], MOA Art Museum, Atami, 1984, cat. no. 15; and another was sold twice in our Hong Kong rooms, 2^nd May 2000, lot 573, and 5^th October 2016, lot 3609.

An extremely fine and rare carved celadon-glazed double-gourd vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795). Estimate 15,000,000 — 20,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 18,080,000 HK at Hong Kong, 05 october 2016, lot 3609. Photo Sotheby's.

(Cf. my post: An extremely fine and rare carved celadon-glazed double-gourd vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795)

The form of this vase is also known covered overall in a teadust glaze, such as a vase decorated in silver and gold with gourds and bats, from the collections of Alfred E. Hippisley and J.M. Hu, sold in our New York rooms in 1985, at Christie’s Hong Kong in 2005, and most recently in our Hong Kong rooms, 6^th April 2016, lot 3608; a slightly larger undecorated example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no. C1B001624N000000000PAB) illustrated in Kokyū Shin shi zuroku/Illustrated Catalogue of Ch’ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Republic of China. Ch’ien-lung Ware and Other Wares, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 80; and another in the Nanjing Museum, included in the exhibitions The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2003, pl. 70.

The Hippisley ‘Teadust’ Double Gourd. An extremely fine and rare silver and gold-decorated double-gourd teadust vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong  (1736-1795), 20. 6 cm, 8 1/8  in. Estimate 12,000,000 — 18,000,000 HKD. Sold 14,480,000 HKD (1,866,762 USD) at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 06 april 2016, lot 3608. Photo Sotheby's

Gourd-shaped vase with two handles in tea-green glaze, Qianlong reign (1736-1795), National Palace Museum, Taipei. © National Palace Museum.